Château La Tour Carnet: Charles Oscar de Luetkens
Now with a slightly modified name, adding a de to perhaps make them seem more French, Jean Jacques de Luetkens was married to Angélique Julie Pauline Louise Raymond (born 1783) in Paris, on June 29th 1800. They had six children, the first-born being Charles Oscar de Luetkens (1801 – 1875). His father Jean Jacques died in 1819, so presumably Charles Oscar then took on responsibility for he estate, although different sources disagree on this. Some clearly indicate that at the time of the 1855 classification the property was under the direction of Angélique, the widow of Jean Jacques Luetkens, who was apparently busy working a 52-hectare vineyard. This is entirely plausible, although she would have been 72 years old at the time. Perhaps more likely is that Charles Oscar took charge; this would appear to be supported by the authors of the 1850 Cocks et Féret, who note that the proprietor was a Monsieur Luetkens, not a Veuve Luetkens.
The estate at this time was listed top of the commune of St-Laurent, ahead of Château Camensac and Château Darroutty, which was in the possession of Monsieur Bruno-Devez and which is better known today as Château Belgrave. In terms of production, Château La Tour Carnet was turning out 110 tonneaux per annum, a figure which dwarfed that made by these other properties. It is also noteworthy that at this time there was a Carnet-Luetkins (their spelling, not mine) vineyard listed in the communes of Pauillac and St-Lambert, alongside the likes of Château Lafite, Château Latour, Château Mouton and so on. It seems likely that this estate is related in some way, even if it merely reflects the large size of the Luetkens family.
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